THE LINGUISTIC CHOICES USED IN THE WALL CHALKING IN SIALKOT: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study explores the linguistic and ideological dimensions of wall chalking in Sialkot through the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), with particular reference to Teun A. van Dijk’s concept of the Ideological Square (T.A. & Dijk, 2015). Wall chalking is a widespread form of informal public discourse in Pakistan and serves as an accessible medium for political, commercial, educational, and ideological communication (Ahmed & Ahmed, 2020). Despite its strong presence in urban spaces, limited academic attention has been given to the linguistic structures and ideological meanings embedded in these public texts. The study adopts a qualitative research design and employs purposive sampling to collect a total of 30 wall-chalks from different areas of Sialkot. The purposive sampling in qualitative research design embraces the flexible and cohesive principles of qualitative inquiry (Ahmad & Wilkins, 2025). The collected data is categorized into political, commercial, educational, and ideological/sectarian wall chalking. The analysis is conducted at both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, the study examines thematic structures and dominant social concerns reflected in the texts, while at the micro level it investigates lexical choices, nominalization, rhetorical strategies, positive self-representation, and negative other-representation. The analysis demonstrates that wall-chalking is not neutral expressions but strategically constructed texts that shape identities, reinforce power relations, and influence public perception. The findings reveal that commercial wall chalking constitute the largest proportion of the collected data, indicating their extensive use as a low-cost advertising strategy. However, political and ideological wall chalking exhibit stronger persuasive.